Slipping Between the Cracks
by TwilightRealmLorule
Summary: A year has passed since the events of Twilight Princess, and now the Kingdom of Hyrule is in ruins as it faces it's biggest threat with Ganon returning with more power than ever before, while another threat wakes from a thousand-year sleep.
1. The Beginning

Zelda sighed as she paused for a moment, looking around her room. Once it had been magnificent, and nicely kept. Now it was a mess. There were books and papers strewn across it, with scribbles and random little notes written along the sides in the margins. She'd been searching for an answer ever since Midna had left. She was looking for a way back to the Twilight Realm. There were hints here and there, but nothing solid. She'd even found some legends hinting that Hyrule had once been another kingdom, but nothing showing another way to get to the Twilight Realm.

She was starting to get desperate. Quite frankly, her kingdom needed Midna's kingdom. Her kingdom was in debt, tension between the three races were growing every day, there were monsters everywhere, and her castle was in ruins. The hero wasn't in the best of conditions either. Midna leaving had truly broken him. She had seen him three times in the past year, and two of those three times he was a wolf. The other time he had been completely drunk.

"Nayru...if you can hear me...I need help. Please." She sighed even as she finished her prayer. She had been brought up to believe in the goddesses, taught of the power they can grant to a person, had witnessed it with her own eyes...and yet as of late she had begun to lose faith. But even as she began to doubt it, the symbol on her hand began to shine before she gasped, and slipped into unconsciousness as the darkness consumed her.

* * *

As she came to, it took her all of two seconds to realize she wasn't in her room. Not anymore. It was too bright to be anywhere in Hyrule right now, and yet...she felt as if she knew where she was. "This is...the spring." And it was. But not truly. This spring was bright and alive, and standing beside the water there was a woman, dressed all in blue. Her eyes and hair, were exactly the same shade of blue, and on the center of her dress there was a Triforce...of sorts. The points that represented power and courage were faded and the point that represented wisdom was a bright shade of gold.

"Hello Zelda. It's nice to finally make your acquaintance." The Goddess of Wisdom smiled at the princess of Hyrule, her ice blue eyes piercing through her in ways that she couldn't describe.

"I...you are Nayru then...?" Nayru turned to face the spring, speaking even as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Yes. I am. And I must apologize. In past times I have assisted who was entrusted with my gift, telling them what to do or where to go to help return peace to the land my sisters and I created...but with the latest event I was unable to do so. I was unable to contact you. And now here you stand, with a ruined kingdom and a broken hero." Zelda started to speak, stepping forward.

"I wi-"

"I already know what you intend to ask, and no. I cannot do anything to repair your kingdom. I can only show you the way." She turned once more to face Zelda, holding out her hand, a golden bracelet with a red jewel imbedded inside of it in her palm. "This will lead the way back to the one that will heal the hero, and help you face the darkness that threatens your kingdom."

"What darkness? What threat?"

"I can not tell you anymore. Our time grows short. Take this. Take it to the hero. Use it to reach the Twilight Realm once more, and face the biggest threat that your kingdom will ever see." She gave Zelda no more time, the world around them fading into darkness before the princess could make even the smallest of moves.

* * *

"Your highness...your highness! Please wake up!" The princess looked around in confusion as she was woken from the dream, turning to face the guard that had woken her.

"Yes...what is it?"

"A traveling merchant from the desert arrived at the castle and has requested an audience with you. She's refused to leave without speaking to you." Zelda nodded.

"Ahh...yes of course. Tell her I will see her shortly. I must make myself presentable first." The guard nodded before he left, and as he did Zelda turned to walk into her bathroom, looking into her mirror with a sigh. "Maybe it will take a bit longer than I intended." She hadn't slept for days, and she did not look at all like a princess should. She started to wash herself, making herself presentable.

When she was finished, she left her room to head for the throne room. As she entered the room, she saw a girl with an interesting shade of purple hair and an unnatural gold color for her eyes speaking to one of the guards. Zelda could only assume that was the merchant. Tied to her waist she wore a small sack, that seemed to shine as if it were enchanted.

"Yes, yes of course. Please do tell me if you change your mind, I intend to be in town for a few days." The guards snapped to attention as they noticed their princess, one of them announcing her arrival.

"Presenting the honorable Princess Zelda of the royal family, blessed by the Goddess Nayru and sixth of her name since the beginning of time." The merchant girl turned to face the princess, smiling as she took in her appearance.

"It is pleasure to meet you. But I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, and yet I don't know yours." The merchant girl seemed amused by Zelda's words before she answered.

"No, no. I assure you, the pleasure is all mine your grace. As for my name...I was named Zaiya by my father, Melissa by my mother. I tend to go by my father's choice."

"Then I welcome you to the Kingdom of Hyrule, and to my castle Zaiya. We are unfortunately dealing with hard times as of late, and I doubt you will be able to find much business here." Once more the merchant seemed amused by the words of the princess.

"If I may, I would like to request that we speak somewhere...a little more private. Even here, we are watched by those who wish you harm." The words sent a chill up Zelda's spine, for she knew them to be true.

"We may. Please, follow me." She turned and started to head to her most private of rooms, the one she used as her study. Zaiya followed after her, the smile fading the moment they were alone.

"Now that we are alone, I will speak truly. I was sent here by your goddess. She sent me with word of the events that happen in your neighboring kingdom of Lianna, across the Eastern Sea. A year ago a man washed up on our shores with a black scar in his chest, and your holy symbol on his hand. Now he is building an army, using dark magic to conquer our kingdom, and after he's finished he intends to lead his army here and finished what he started."

"WHAT?! That's impossible. I saw that man die with my own eyes."

"And yet he lives. Regardless, I intend to build a shop here and I intend to help you rebuild your kingdom, if you agree to free my kingdom from his rule. And before I forget, I was supposed to give this to you." She slipped a hand inside of the pouch at her waist, before she pulled out a bracelet, the same bracelet that Zelda had seen in her dreams.

"That bracelet...I see. I will help you free your kingdom, and I will help you stop the threat of Ganon once more. But for now...I must find someone." She stepped forward and took the bracelet from Zaiya, slipping it around her own waist for the moment. If this was the key to getting back to the Twilight Realm...then she couldn't afford to lose it. It was their only hope, and not just for her kingdom...for the entire world.


	2. A Rising Threat

**A/N **- **It's best if I explain a bit here, for this chapter. The timeline I go by is NOT Nintendo's timeline. In my timeline A Link Between Worlds happens in the Adult Era after Majora's Mask, and a century before Twilight Princess. The sages who watch over the mirror are the sages from A Link Between Worlds, so spoilers.**

-The Mirror Chamber-

The Mirror Chamber had once been elegant and well designed, but old age had taken it's effect on it. In the past year alone, more of it had begun to crumble than ever before. Without the magic of the mirror it was falling apart. As well the sages were becoming less and less of their former selves every day. They became weaker each day, trying to hold together the temple. They knew what no one else did.

Beneath the Chamber there was another temple, built to contain one of the strongest creatures of darkness in all existence. It had been for a thousand years, sealed with it's own power and the might of the sages together. They had originally been placed at this temple to guard the beast, and when the Mirror had been created it was put there so that it's magic might help seal the creature within.

And now for the first time in a thousand years, the creature threatened to break free. Cracks had begun to appear throughout the Mirror Chamber's exterior, and each crack had some sort of dark essence leaking from it as if it were polluting the world itself. The link between worlds was weaker than ever, and the weaker it got, the closer the beast got from breaking free.

And now one of the six remaining sages stood before the broken mirror, not wearing her disguise. The witch looked the same as she had all those years ago when the hero of worlds had saved her from Yuga. She was one of the six remaining sages. Queen Oren was dead. Slain by Ganondorf when they sealed him into the Twilight Realm so long ago. "He's still alive you know."

Irene turned to look at Seres, before she turned to face the mirror once more, silent before she sighed. "I know. He is growing stronger than ever before...and the hero is a broken man, his will to fight sealed in the Twilight Realm."

"Can we even call it that anymore? It is waking. And when it does...it will scour the lands of the Twilight Realm before it restores the Kingdom of Lorule, and it will search until it finds the **Dark Triforce**." Before Irene could say anything more, Impa spoke up.

"It will not get that far. We will stop it, as we have the previous times it tried to wake." Irene and Seres both looked at her, silent before the witch spoke once more.

"We will not. Even now, it slips free. The cracks throughout the temple, it reaches for it. The Kingdom of Lorule reaches for the leader that it lost. It was barely sealed before, and it took a wish from the Dark Triforce to do so. We are weaker than ever before, holding together the enchantments with the last of our power. The creature will break free and it will imprison us once more. That is our part. To be rescued and give the last of our to the hero. For now...we can only buy the hero more time. Nothing more." None of the others sages argued with her, for they knew she was right. When It truly tried to break free, they could do nothing but delay It.

-Thousands of Miles to the East-

The Kingdom of Lianna had been magnificent, and had been one of the strongest kingdoms in the world before the Twilight Invasion. After the Twilight Invasion, Ganondorf was driven out of Hyrule and in his search for power he discovered Lianna. He had taken a few months to recover his strength, before he launched his attack on the kingdom, his minions surging forward and taking the kingdom. It had nothing to protect it, no one who could compare with the power of the Triforce. It had taken him all of five days to take over, and that was only because he was weakened.

After he had taken over, he had made all the previous leaders swear fealty to him before he began purging the army of all those who opposed him. By the fifth day of his rule, his army was made up of mindless warriors who had once opposed him and all those who had sworn fealty. He rebuilt the Kingdom in a different kind of magnificence, finally having the strength he needed to destroy the hero and take over the entire world, starting with the Kingdom of Hyrule. Here he did not need fear as his weapon. Here he was respected as king, and in a month he would even be given a queen.

None of that mattered to him, not truly. All that mattered to him was to achieve his goal. Was to rule the world, and gain the rest of the Triforce so that he could be more powerful than even the goddesses. He had done it. Had gotten his wish. No one had told him that when he made the wish, the Triforce would shatter. Regardless, even if he had known he still would've made the wish. After all, he was impossible to kill. He had lived for generations, fought hero after hero after hero, lost countless times...and still he survived.

"I am eternal." He chuckled softly, staring at his reflection. "And this time...the hero will fall. Not even he has the power to defeat an entire Kingdom." Ganondorf turned, walking out of his room to step onto the balcony, staring out over the expanse that was his army. From where he stood...it looked almost endless. "This time...Hyrule will fall."

-Deep Within the Heart of Faron Woods-

The expanse that was Faron Woods had once been dangerous and infested with monsters but then Midna had left the Light Realm, and when she had the Hero had broken. His human form had become useless to him, and he shifted into the blue-eyed beast of the Twilight Realm. There were few places in the Light Realm that a wolf could survive, so Faron Woods was where he had chosen to go.

It hadn't taken the wolf very long at all to claim the woods as his own, ridding it of all the evil that plagued it. As time had gone on, the poison fog at the entrance had dissipated, returning the area to the way it had been before the Twilight invasion. Now there were no monsters in the forest, and any time they tried to return he eliminated them. Very quickly. He became the guardian of the area, and protector of the Lost Woods and the treasure it held.

He had returned it, before he'd completely lost it. After the mirror had shattered he knew one thing for sure. He had to return the sword. He didn't know why, he didn't know what for. He just knew in his heart the blade needed to be returned from the spot he'd taken it. After the sword had been replaced, he had nothing left to do. So he used the Twilight Shard Midna had given him after Ganondorf's defeat to shift into the wolf and protect the woods.

Now he didn't know who he was. Not truly. He had spent so much time as a wolf, he had forgotten his human self. It was sealed away, somewhere inside of him. There was no doubt that eventually the human side of his personality could be brought back, but it would take either a bit of time or something really important. The monsters and creatures of the forest wouldn't be enough to restore his human side. Not alone.

The princess would have her work cut out for her in bringing the hero back to sanity. To begin with she'd have to find him. And that would be very hard to do, considering the fact that Link had gone much deeper into the forest than anyone else in nearly seven generations now. And he had the advantage of being a wolf. He could speak to animals, and take passages that no human could hope to fit through, unless of course...that person was paper thin.


	3. The Other Side of the Coin

-Twilight Realm/Palace of Twilight-

Midna hadn't had it easy repairing her kingdom after the aftermath of Zant's insanity either, and as of late it had become even harder to hold it together. For the most part, her kingdom was making a slow recovery...or it was. Lately though there had been an outbreak of crime and violence, arguing and pointless fights, and even reports of a mysterious figure dressed as a rabbit. Those were the oddest reports to hear. After all...why would there would be someone dressed as a rabbit in the Twilight Realm? Or any realm for that matter?

Besides that, many of the Twili who were still loyal to Zant had declared Midna an usurper, and were in open rebellion against her for the throne. She had originally intended to seal away the Fused Shadows where they might never be discovered again, but the war had forced her hand. She had to use them to stand a chance. Those that supported her were far fewer than those who opposed her. She had no choice but to start looking through the legends of the Twilight Realm.

At the moment, she was returning to her room with a book tucked under her arm. The spine read _Origins of the Twilight Realm: Fall of Lorule _it was part of a long series that depicted the history of the Twilight Realm, and interestingly enough what the Sages and the Light Spirits had told her and Link throughout their journey wasn't true. Not completely anyway.

"No. They lied to us. The Twilight Realm was not created to seal away the thieves' of the Fused Shadows. It existed long before then, as the Kingdom of Lorule. Yes. They forgot to mention that." As she stepped into her room, she tossed the book onto her bed before walking across the room, her vibrant orange hair flowing around her as if it had a mind of it's own as she stopped before a table in the room's center.

The tabletop was a map of the Twilight Realm, enchanted to keep up to date with the kingdom's current state. She sighed as she looked down at it, frowning slightly. "The rebels grow closer to my castle. And the Fused Shadows weaken me when I use them. They nearly killed me the first time...back in the Light Realm." For a moment she allowed herself to think back on that time, memories flooding her mind.

Collecting the Fused Shadows, Zant arriving and stealing them all, Link...taking the blow that was meant to kill her..., tracking Zant down, using the Fused Shadows to destroy the barrier and then Link...catching her...his warmth surrounding her. And then the final of the Light Realm she had. Destroyed the mirror. Seeing that look on Link's face...watching him break...and then she had been pulled back to her home world, and set about repairing it.

"No...I can't let myself get distracted." She examined the map once more, making a motion with her hand and the book flew to her side, hovering in midair even as the pages flipped open by itself as she glanced at them. "And so the Princess Hilda returned the Hero and the Princess of Light to their home world, sealing the Dark World's fate in doom. But the Princess of Light surprised her, and used their wish to restore the Dark Triforce. With it's restoration, the world began to heal. Began to fix itself. And the ultimate power was once more there to watch over th-" And then the page was ripped out.

It was frustrating, but the only books she had access to were ripped or torn or burned or ruined in some way. She had to find the Dark Triforce, and sooner rather then later. Her counselors told her that the rebels had learned of it's existence, and that could only end badly. She sighed, closing her eyes as she tried to clear out her mind for a moment, speaking softly to herself. "Link...wherever you are...I need you. Please...I need you." She didn't notice it, but her left hand flashed softly, and for just the tiniest bit of time an upside down Triforce appeared on her hand; the point representing Wisdom shining lightly. Then just as quickly as it had appeared...it was gone.

-Light Realm/Faron Woods-

The wolf dashed through the woods, chasing after it's prey as the chain on it's paw rattled and shook with each step it took. It no longer remembered how the chain had gotten there, but it didn't matter either did it? No creature was fast enough to escape him. As if on cue, he dashed forward and tackled the deer to the ground, tearing into it's flesh as the wolf's stomach growled. Food had begun to grow scarce, and it made it difficult to survive. He was just about to take another bite when he heard it.

**'Link...' **The wolf jumped backwards, twirling in a circle as it looked for the source of the sound, and on the inside memories and thoughts stirred. **'wherever you are...' **_I...that sound...it's..._**'I need you.' **_My name is...Link. _**'Please...I need you." **_That voice...it's..._ And then he started to howl, shifting halfway through it as he shouted out loudly. "MIDNA!" The hero gasped, shaking as he looked around. "Midna...where...how..." And then he lost consciousness and fell into the darkness as he collapsed, the Triforce on his hand flashing bright yellow, the point representing Courage highlighted in gold.

-Twilight Realm/City of Antasma-

The rebels had been through easier times than the past few days. They had been getting attacked by the Royal Guard for some time now, and they were running low on supplies. Midna had been trained in battle strategy since she was a young child, and she knew how to fight a war. They were constantly attacked by the Royal Guard from random directions at random intervals, and while they were busy holding them back Midna's spell casters wreaked havoc on their forces. They had sieged the city two weeks ago, and now it was important that they kept a tight hold on it.

The plan was for Midna to try and take the city back as a diversion while the two other factions of the rebels completed their mission. One faction was a group of ten that was searching for some ancient treasure or another that would give them the power to crush the usurper Midna, whilst the other faction was an army of forty-five thousand warriors led by one of the Twilight Realm's fiercest generals, Jace.

The **Power **he had was almost unnatural, and very few stood a chance in battle against him. Only one person had managed to fight him in one against one combat, one of Midna's counselors by the name of Emil. He either had lots of **Courage **or very little intelligence to challenge Jace to begin with. But he had challenged him, and in the end he had been victorious. It was the only reason the rebel army was as desperate as it was now. Midna had an army of twenty-five thousand but she herself was worth five thousand with the Fused Shadows, and as long as she stayed in the capitol each of her soldiers were worth two of theirs. The choices she had made so far in this war had required a great deal of **Wisdom **and she definitely had plenty to spare.

The rebels had the advantage in the numbers, and they knew it. But Midna had the advantage all together. It was why she bode her time in the capitol, and refused to march out to meet them on the field of battle. It wasn't cowardly of her at all either, it was quite wise actually. One way or another, this war still had quite a while to go.


	4. Rexarite

-Light Realm/Hyrule Castle-

Zaiya stood in Zelda's room, a map of the continent laid out before her. She knew little of the many nations and kingdoms surrounding Hyrule, and was dismayed to find that there was only one neighboring kingdom that was known of. It was the Kingdom of Symphonia, located North of Hyrule. The history books that Zelda had strewn about her room stated that tensions between the two kingdoms had long been bad, since the very first time Ganondorf had taken control and declared war against it.

Apparently he had nearly destroyed the kingdom before the hero of that time defeated him. Afterwards he and the princess of that time had done everything in their power to set the Kingdom of Symphonia back on it's feet. Unfortunately, they never truly forgave Hyrule for what Ganondorf had done. Apparently though, Hyrule's Royal Family had always kept tabs on their neighboring kingdom.

After the desolation that Ganondorf had dealt to the Kingdom, it had recovered nicely. It had even surpassed Hyrule in certain aspects. They had built their new capitol on what ended up being a rich deposit of a mineral that was only heard of in Symphonia known as Rexarite. The kingdom had flourished after discovering the material and begun researching it's properties. After a couple of days they discovered that it was a one of a kind material, much more flexible and reactive than any other material in existence.

It was so flexible that it could actually merged with a person, and when it did it expanded their abilities beyond anything that had ever been experienced before. They had started to become a glorious kingdom once more, before the program was abandoned. It wasn't abandoned because it was decided that it was dangerous or anything of the like.

It was abandoned because people began to fear Rexarite. They stopped volunteering to get augmentations because those who had augments...they changed. There was a chance that the Rexarite wouldn't merge properly, and if it didn't...it acted like a drug, of sorts. They ended up relying on constant injections of Rexarite to survive and after too many injections it killed the host if it didn't merge properly. Most of those who did merge properly slowly cleared their system of Rexarite, fearing something going wrong.

"Maybe...maybe if they hear he is rising again they will ally themselves with us. Hyrule has no chance against Ganondorf's army without something like this mineral..." She wasn't sure anyone at all would be willing to get the augments, but she knew if she was given the chance, she would. After all...Ganondorf had taken her throne. He had usurped her kingdom, and exiled her from her homeland. She would do whatever it took to return peace to her kingdom.

Even if the price was her life. After all...she had someone that she had to protect. Someone that had gotten left behind, and for all she knew who was in danger right this moment. "I have to get back there...Zelda whatever you're doing, please hurry. We're running out of time." She didn't know how she knew, but she knew she was right. Ganondorf was soon to launch his attack, and when he did Hyrule had very little chance to survive this time.

-Kingdom of Symphonia/Rexarite Mines-

Queen Marta stood at the entrance to the depths of the mines, examining the beauty that was Rexarite. She stepped aside as four miners stepped through and began to mine the precious material. She sighed as she spoke, more to herself than to the four of them. "Once upon a time this place was filled with miners, eager to collect this magnificent material." As she said that, she gripped onto a shard of it that was protruding from part of the wall, breaking it free to examine with another small sigh.

Rexarite looked sort of like Ruby...only much more beautiful. The Queen tightened her grip on the shard, cutting her hand slightly before driving the shard into her arm, smiling as it pierced her skin. The Rexarite begin to shine, heating in her bare hand before it slowly shifted into a liquid, entering her blood stream and sealing the wound once more. It exhausted her greatly to turn pure Rexarite into manufactured Rexarite, but she couldn't wait any longer.

She had been ruler of the Kingdom for nearly three hundred years now, surviving off of the material most of her kingdom feared. "And then people began to fear it. So ridiculous. Rexarite is beautiful, in each and every way...those fools that fear it are so blind." The miners said nothing, collecting more of the material for their leader. They may have feared the mineral, but all of the kingdom loved Marta herself. They respected her, and trusted her to take care of their kingdom. And she had, from the moment became queen to this very day.

"And so augmentation was forgotten. Rexarite was abandoned within this mine...and then I decided that I would not fear it. That it was far to beautiful to be scared of...and look at me. Three hundred years, and I am completely fine. If only the entire kingdom could understand the beauty. That's all it is. A scared child, misunderstood and treated wrong. But I..." She smiled, and for a moment her teeth were visible, much sharper than they should've been. "I intend to make it flourish. I will take this child...and make it a magnificent creature."

She turned to leave, pausing to speak once more, this time to the miners. "I want five times what I normally request...and I want it pure." Then she left, a small smile touching her lips as she considered the future. No matter what did happen from this moment forward, her kingdom would be...perfection.


End file.
